Slovenia’s recent Eurovision history doesn’t look very glorious. In the most recent ten contests, there were only three Slovenian entries reaching the final: 2007 (Alenka Gotar), 2011 (Maja Keuc), and just last year (Tinkara). From the country’s perspective, qualifying for the final would surely be already a success, as that isn’t for granted, unlike for a few other countries. The anti-climax happened in 2013, when Hannah Mancini went “straight into” last place of the semi.

The Alpine country’s latest Top 10 success is already a while ago. It was 2001, when Nuša Derenda’s “Energy” reached the 7th place (best Slovenian result, shared with 1995) – something that Slovenia could only dream of, in recent years. And considered that 2001 came without semi-finals, many fans of Energy were quite disappointed, back then, when a 7th place was still not as big as it is now. And that very song, Energy, was the last time, that Slovenia was one of the huge fan favourites.

So how will it go this year, now that the EMA winner 2015 is once again considered a top candidate for winning ESC?

Maraaya is not the girl’s name, but in fact the name for the two-man project consisting of Raay (the guy, Songwriter, co-wrote Slovenia 2014) and Marjetka (the girl, singer, married to Raay). Their song, Here For You, is undoubtedly one of the biggest favourites this year. It’s within the top positions of various fan polls and betting odds, and also won our very own escgo ChatVote 2015! The song is loved by a lot of fans, there is no doubt about that. It has an instant melody, not as forgettable as many other songs this year.

Personally, I like it, but – finally coming to my verdict – I don’t necessarily share the sheer excitement for the song. At the beginning, it even left me a bit cold. However, now, that I have to see that this year is full of boring and forgettable entries, Slovenia is still one of my favourites, as it is one of the most memorable and enjoyable songs, and you can definitely sing along to it. Speaking of chances, we heard a lot of fans in the past days playing Cassandra, claiming that this will be the fan favourite fail of the year, comparing it to Same Heart (winner of escgo ChatVote 2014), or What About My Dreams (winner of escgo ChatVote 2011). I’m afraid they might be right, but I hope for Maraaya and Slovenia, that it will be a success, and ChatVote had the “correct” winners before.

With the right staging, an effective use of light, creating a suitable atmosphere on stage, and with a good performance, this could actually get a result similar to the last big fan favourite from Slovenia – Energy. Oh, and I would even love to go to Slovenia next year.

And let’s not talk about the headphones. I can already see various spokespersons around Europe making jokes by putting headphones on, when they come to their 12 points announcement.

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